Public emergency declared as scavenging brings death

Big cheque but big effort needed. pics Minfo

Supplies - where are they going to?

Frank Bainimarama's relief fund has hit $1.5 million yet a man has died of fish poisoning after scavenging for food at a rubbish dump in Ba.

Two other people in the west have also died from dengue fever bringing the total number of fatalities since the floods to nine.

Suplies - how quickly are they reaching flood victims?

The latest deaths come as the Ministry of Health finally declares a public emergency for Koroboya and Naitasiri for a period of 30 days. Eight cases of typhoid have been recorded in Koroboya and six in Naitasiri settlement of Ba. (see MINFO release below).

The acting permanent secretary Joe Koroivueta concedes the scavenging is a serious issue and says it's hoped the emergency measure will contain the outbreak of diseases and stop it spreading.

The public emergency means movements in and out of Koroboya and Naitasiri will be restricted and all communal gatherings banned. Victims will also be isolated to avoid diseases being passed.
http://www.fijivillage.com/?mod=story&id=2402124969e3a75150d35b50536228
http://www.fbc.com.fj/fiji/402/public-health-emergency-declared-in-ba-communities 
http://www.fiji.gov.fj/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5642:health-authorities-to-strengthen-exercise-despite-public-emergency&catid=71:press-releases&Itemid=155

Is there enough to go around? pics Minfo

FTUC: Usumate must 'abandon' labour baggage

The Fiji Trades Union Congress says the claim the appointment of a new Minister for Labour is a "reflection of commitment to labour" rings hollow considering the National Industries (Employment) Decree and the amended Public Order Decree and the State Proceedings Decree.

In a statement from the national secretary, Felix Anthony, FTUC says the draconian decrees continue to undermine workers fundamental rights to collective bargaining, freedom of association, freedom of speech, protest or demonstration, right to seek redress grievances and disputes.

Anthony also says the Ministry of Labour, which will now be headed by Jone Usumate, has become idle and ineffective.

"It has demonstrated no capacity to deal with workers issues, or Industrial relations or even enforce existing laws. It has curtailed the functions of the Wages Councils, the Employment Relations Advisory Board and the OHS Board.

"One of the more important roles of the Ministry is to promote good Industrial Relations practices which it has miserably failed to do.

"Reports of disputes can take as long as 6 months for the Ministry to respond to when the law clearly states that it has to act within 30 days. The Permanent Secretary is never available for consultations with the stakeholders."

"The new Minister has a real task on hand and he must be prepared to abandon his old baggage and assume pro-active and impartial role. He inherits a Ministry that has almost become non functional."

Anthony says the FTUC looks forward to seeing immediate improvements and only after that should the regime lay claim to real and genuine commitment to labour issues.

Editor's Note: FTUC president, Daniel Urai, appeared in the Suva Magistrates court this morning briefly on charges of urging political violence and inciting antagonism. State prosecutors have filed an affidavit with Urai's lawyer expected to file next week. 

Disease figures not making cents

Frank Bainimarama and Nauru's Jarden Kephas. pic MINFO

Question: Is Fiji's closest ally, China, being the good friend it could be as the country struggles with the floods?  

A look at some of the recent donations shows the China Railway No.3 Group, which has benefited huge business opportunities in Fiji, gave just $6,000 towards the regime's relief fund compared to Nauru, which gave $37,300.

Question: Where did the sudden 'figures' for the communicable illnesses used by the regime come from? 

In a media report two days ago the Health Ministry claimed that "before the floods there were 18 confirmed cases of typhoid which has increased to 20, dengue fever had 16 confirmed cases before the floods and this number has increased by 6 to 22, while leptospirosis had 27 confirmed cases before the flood with the number now standing at 28."

The report, The Onus is on the People: Health, says the Ministry "is doing its part to control the spread of communicable diseases in the West and it says the onus is now on the people ensuring this happens."

It added: "Spokesperson Peni Namotu says the government, NGO’s and international  organisations have intervened to help restore order in flood affected areas. However Namotu says neglect and the lack of responsibility isn’t helping."

How come the public never knew about these statistics before the floods? Officials had said typhoid at Nanoko was fully contained and dealt with. And how come these patients are all going to the hospital after the floods?

 

The floods and the breakouts in diseases, not to mention the seven deaths (which jumped suddenly from one to seven!), is testing the regime's credibility. Sadly, it is again blaming the people and telling lies to cover up its incompetency.

Samisoni and fellow accused get bail variations but still in dark over police case

The four people charged with political incitement have been granted bail variations but remain on curfew. There is also still a delay on their legal teams getting full disclosures.

Former SDL MPs, Dr Mere Samisoni and  Mataiasi Ragigia, Semisi Lawake and Apete Vereti, were all granted variations yesterday by the Acting Chief Magistrate, Usaia Ratuvili, after a hearing in the Suva Magistrates Court.

The four, who were the last to be detained in December in under the Public Emergency Regulations before it was replaced with the Public Order Act, will now report three times a week to the police instead of daily.

Yesterday's variations also allow Samisoni to move from her Central Apartments to Muanikau.

None have entered pleas as their legal teams are waiting for full disclosures from the Director of Public Prosecutions office. Prosecutors have a further three weeks to provide the disclosures. 

According to the Fiji Times, Samisoni cannot make her plea until the state submits phone call records.

It says Samisoni's lawyer, Samanunu Vaniqi, requested the court enter a timeline for the state to submit the phone records of the accused. 

The court has heard there was evidence of calls made to several people but the Fiji Times says the Director of Public Prosecution lawyer, Ilisapeci Whippy, said while the police were given 10 cell phones it had only one machine to process the cell phones. 

Whippy says it will take time to process the calls.

Samisoni and the other defendants were released from custody on bail conditions on January 4.

No plea yet by Samisoni
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=194028 
Certain bail restrictions granted for Samisoni and cohorts
http://www.fijivillage.com/?mod=story&id=22021216b651c180cdcb82adeab05f 

Bole loses two portfolio to regime newcomers

Jone Usumate

Viliame Naupoto

Changes are tipped for Fiji's unelected government, in what is clearly another sign of how entrenched the regime is becoming.

Coupfourpointfive has been told two new ministerial appointments are about to be made.

Filipe Bole

Jone Usumate is to become Frank Bainimarama's Labour Minister and Viliame Naupoto the new Youth and Sports Minister.

Both of the portofilios were held by Filipe Bole with the new appointments likely to be announced this week.

Usumate was previously the boss of Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF) and Naupoto is a former navy commander and former immigration director.

International reports show continued concern for Fiji

The latest reports from leading economic groups, the International Monetary Fund and the Economist Intelligence Unit, say Fiji's  saggy economy and uncertain political situation remain a concern.

Detailing the increasing loss of civili liberties and defections, resignations and dismissals the Economist Intelligence Unit says the unlected government is unlikely to release its hold on Fiji citizens.

"The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that Commodore Bainimarama will hold firm to his decision to delay the next election until 2014. There are also doubts about whether the poll, when it happens, will be free and fair."

The unit also warns investors of the grim realities of Fiji's economy. "The government has ambitious goals for economic reform, including boostingGDP, carrying out land reform and eli minating the current-account deficit.

"However, the high level of public debt means that the government is under pressure to reduce the size of the public sector, and only limited progress towards this objective has been made so far. Fiji remains a highly unpredictable destination for foreign investment. 

"Legislation passed in 2010 outlawed ownership of media organisations by foreigners, and a large US-owned producer of mineral water, Fiji Water, was hit by a dramatic rise in the water resource rent tax in the 2011 budget."

It goes on to say that he regime's record on economic management is "patchy."

"We estimate that it posted a budget deficit in 2010 and that another will have been recorded in 2011. The budget for 2012 outlines considerable changes to the tax regime.

"Fijians, and particularly those on low incomes, are to see their income tax contributions slashed. The government intends to enable this measure to be afforded through increases in a number of indirect taxes, and believes that the industries affected by these rises will be sufficiently strong to cope.

"The 2012 budget aims to achieve a much smaller deficit, at the equivalent of 1.9% of GDP, this year, despite another increase in spending. 

"We believe that the authorities will struggle to meet this ambitious target, particularly given the substantial changes to income tax that are planned. We forecast that the deficit will widen in 2012, to 3.4% of GDP, and will remain around this level in 2013."

In the second report on Fiji, the International Monetary Fund says there have been some gains in the economy but "it seems unlikely, given fundamental and economic constraints, that growth will exceed 1½ to 2 percent on a sustained basis unless structural reforms are accelerated. Risks around this outlook are tilted to the downside, given political uncertainties, structural weaknesses, and the fragile global economy."

In a rare foray into domestic politcs the IMF has also called for the regime to relax emergency measures ahead of the 2014 election.

It says its mission had found the economy needed structural reforms and a "concrete plan" ahead of the first elections since a 2006 military coup.

It says "removing structural impediments to growth is critically important" and that many of the mission's interlocutors suggested that relaxing the emergency regulation and establishing a clear path toward a 2014 election would be the key measures to boost investor confidence."

"The current government took power in a 2006 coup, relations with traditional donors are strained, and FDI (foreign direct investment) has dropped sharply, though emerging donors remain engaged and have provided assistance.

"Elections expected for 2009 did not occur, but the government has subsequently announced plans for an election in 2014 and provided an allocation in the 2012 budget for electoral preparations."

The IMF says "Monetary conditions are accommodative and the system is awash with liquidity on account of foreign exchange inflows. However, credit growth has been slow, and banks’ loan-deposit ratio remains below 90 percent."

It adds: "While lending to the private sector is now rising at about 5 percent, the Reserve Bank of Fiji (RBF) is concerned that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and others are being shut out. 

The IMF says higher food and oil prices have contributed to weak external balances saying:  "The financial sector is stable, but FNPF finances are unsustainable over the long run. The banks are well capitalized, with low NPLs and adequate loan loss provisioning. 

"The finance-company and insurance sectors are stable, but the largest nonbank financial institution, the FNPF, is actuarially unsustainable: its current pension annuitization rates, which vary from 15 to 25 percent for different pensioners, imply negative net cashflows by 2030 and depleted assets by 2056."

The Intelligence Economist Unit report
www.mediafire.com/file/sa8do51t1376a6e/Fiji Jan 2012 EIU report_dl.pdf
The latest IMF Report

http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2012/cr1244.pdf

Fiji must pave way for 2014 elections
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hviXMNTDXvanYpVruSSW0EulyIuA?docId=CNG.4a7405f435e18d06d38741269c27a37f.611

More key FICAC investigations

Sources say the wife of the high commissioner to India, Yogesh Karan,  has been under FICAC investigation for the past four months.


They say Angie Karan was involved in a $75k per diem travel and was forced to stay back last year when her husband took up his Delhi post.


She and the couple's children are renting Knolly Apartments and had landcruiser and have had their passports seized.

Meanwhile sources say Yogesh Karan didn't know about Aiyaz Khaiyum's current visit to India. Apparently, the illegal AG is meeting with casino investors and is then off to Dubai.

Sources: Suva special administrator being investigated

Insiders say the regime appointed special administrator for the Suva City Council, Chandu Umaria, is being investigated by the Fiji Independent Commission Against Corruption and is about to be charged for bribery.

Umarai was accused last year of a number of irregularities including a tenders scam in the Council involving a 10 per cent cut from preferred contractors and suppliers. 

The scam involved tenders being called for capital works and procurement of supplies. 

But unlike the normal practice, the tenders were being opened behind closed doors by Umaria and a select group, including the director engineering Ravin Pillay, senior enforcement officer Suresh Rattan, tenders clerk Krishna and solicitor Zulfikar Khan.

When the tender prices were known to the group, the original tenders would then be shelved and renegotiations conducted  with other companies to include the special administrator's 10%. 

Sources told Coupfourpointfive the works and purchasing frenzy led to both overstocking of non-essential items and shortages of essential supplies.  Some Council workers were dismissed and faced police action on allegations of selling overstocked tyres. 

A number of staff involved in estimation and procurement were also suspended.

Sources also claim Umraia approved a $10,000 pay rise for the Works Depot Manager, Uma Chand, to ensure the tenders and procurement records were safe and reworked to protect himself.

Umraia was taken to court by his landlord after failing to pay his rent. A High Court ruling in Suva on August the 30th last year resulted in him being told to vacate the flat and to pay the arrears plus $1,500 in costs.

Sources say FICAC information against Umraia includes a $200 bribe from a builder to have his plans passed without inspection plus a $5,000 bribe from an advertising company executive to have its billboards erected in Suva.

Picture: Chandu Umraia (front right) at a Fiji China Friendship Association meeting earlier this month in Suva. 

Fiji floods: panadol not enough

Flood victims line up for help but cracks appearing in how disaster is being handled.

By Freedom Fighter

It is unfortunate that people fail to understand or realise the enormity of the communicable disease problem in the west in the wake of the recent floods.
 
While it is true that Joeli Cawaki is a military man - it is also true that people are dying from diseases because people living in flood affected areas are taking panadol rather than visiting the nearest health centre or hospital when they develop fever.
 
They are then rushed to the nearest hospital when the constant ingestion of panadol does not do the trick but by then it is often too late.
 
This is where Joeli Cawaki is coming from. People have to be made aware that at the onset of flu-like symptoms - they must present themselves at the nearest health centre or hospital immediately.
 
Case in point - the young lady (one of 500 evacuees taking shelter at the Lautoka Girmit Centre) who took herself to the Lautoka Hospital on Wednesday two weeks ago.
 
She was given panadol and turned away. She died two days later. The post mortem results said “death by dengue.”
 
What happened there Peni Namotu? And why isn’t the Ministry of Health commenting about what happened to this unfortunate 28 year old young woman, a mother of one? 
 
Joeli Cawaki knows that dengue and leptospirosis are treatable if people are given the right medication at the onset of these diseases.
 
He is simply doing his job and taking responsibility while others seek to comment from the warmth and comfort of their homes in Suva.


Meeting and kava ban for Naviyago people
http://www.fijivillage.com/?mod=story&id=210212d20529af4371f3281971d3e0 

WHO praises Fiji's health care standards
http://www.fbc.com.fj/fiji/312/who-praises-fijis-health-care-standards 

Health Ministry maintains stand
http://www.fbc.com.fj/fiji/307/health-ministry-maintains-stand 

Deaths on up but Ministry refuses to impose public emergency

Peni Namotu

The fiasco over the handling of the recent flooding has spilled over with differences between the police commissioner western commander, Joeli Cawaki, and the Health Ministry now out in the open.
 
Cawaki is warning he will declare a public health emergency himself if the Ministry continues to insist the country doesn't need one.
 
Cawaki says there are now 62 cases of typhoid, dengue fever and leptospirosis: 17 of them typhoid, 28 dengue fever and 17 leptospirosis.
 
Several deaths have occured as a result of the diseases and Cawaki says the way to control its spread in flood affected areas is to restrict people's movements by banning kava sessions and communal gatherings.
 
Officials, however, are rejecting the idea saysing there's no crisis yet, althoughCawaki says the cases are from 36 different villages.
 
One of two FBC reports on the state of play today says senior officials have been meeting to discuss Cawaki recommendation but are not convinced.
 
FBC says the Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr Eloni Tora, told it the Ministry is monitoring and analysing the situation in the West.
 
Tora reckons imposing a Public Health Emergency "is not that easy" as a lot of issues need to be taken into consideration.
 
The Ministry spokesperson, Peni Namotu, backs him saying the mergency "will affect the country’s economy".
 
Quote: " The Ministry has made a decision not to impose the Public Health Emergency at this stage because there are cross implications esepcially to the nation's well-being."
 
Namotu maintains the ban is unneccesary because "communicable disease numbers have not reached an alarming level and the sanitation environment is also improving."

Fiji police tried to get Bainimarama arrested in NZ

By Russell Hunter and Victor Lal

Fiji's chief of police made a private call to his New Zealand counterpart urging him to arrest Commodore Frank Bainimarama a few weeks before the military leader seized power in a coup in December 2006.

It was reported at the time that a request had been made through Interpol and rejected by the New Zealand Government but only now can details from behind the scenes be revealed.

In November 2006 then Police Commissioner Howard Broad took the call from his Fiji counterpart Andrew Hughes, an Australian, who wanted to know if Commodore Bainimarama had committed any offence under New Zealand law for which he could be arrested.

Teams of police officers from both forces worked over a weekend and agreed the future dictator could be charged in New Zealand with perverting the course of justice in a foreign jurisdiction.

The planned charge related to remarks made by Commodore Bainimarama in New Zealand regarding an investigation into his alleged sedition in Fiji.

Mr Hughes sent two senior officers - an assistant commissioner and a senior detective - to New Zealand to liaise in the planned arrest.

"Then Howard Broad had a change of heart," said Mr Hughes. "He said New Zealand Foreign Affairs preferred a political solution.

"I argued it was his decision as Police Commissioner as to who should be charged in New Zealand."

At the time Commodore Bainimarama was in New Zealand for his granddaughter's christening and the Foreign Minister at the time, Winston Peters, had taken the opportunity to broker talks between him and elected Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase aimed at diverting Fiji's lurch towards a military takeover.

A day later, Mr Hughes received a call from Mr Broad.

"He sought my assurance that no NZ citizen would be endangered in Fiji as result of an arrest," said Mr Hughes.

"Of course I would do all in my power to protect all the people in Fiji but a blanket assurance of that kind was not possible. It would be like me asking him for a similar assurance covering all Fiji people in New Zealand. It wasn't possible to give him that.

"In the end, Mr Broad told me, 'Well, we're not going to arrest him."'

Mr Broad, now retired, told the Weekend Herald yesterday in a written statement that he remembered the call well.

"I remember it as a highly unusual request to consider an allegation against the Chief of Defence Force of a neighbouring country's properly constituted Government.

"I remember giving this decision a lot of consideration because it contained complex operational, legal and policy issues. I made the decision but I took a lot of advice. I remain comfortable with it."

He said some aspects of Mr Hughes' explanation did not accord with his recollection but he did not specify what they were.

In Suva, the Fiji police force had been awaiting an opportunity to arrest the commodore on the sedition charge but were unable to penetrate his heavily armed personal security detail - rarely less than 12-strong at any given time.

"I had earlier taken a brief of evidence to the DPP," said Mr Hughes, "and it was agreed that there was a case to answer on a sedition charge.

"We wanted to arrest and charge Commodore Bainimarama but he was permanently covered by heavy security. I was very keen to avoid an armed confrontation between the police and the military. So we waited."

As Prime Minister Qarase waited at Suva's Nausori airport to board a New Zealand Air Force VIP jet to take him to the Peters-brokered talks in Wellington, he was surprised to be joined by Mr Hughes, who then explained that the arrest plan was unlikely to come to fruition. Mr Qarase was shocked.

The Fiji Police Commissioner boarded the flight and in Wellington he met a deputy secretary for foreign affairs but was again told the New Zealand Government's position was that a political or diplomatic solution was preferred.

Aware that the police were ready to arrest him in Suva, Commodore Bainimarama had made it one of his many conditions for any settlement that the police commissioner would have to go.

Mr Hughes had, a week previously, sent his wife and sons to Australia having received credible information that they could be targeted by a military snatch squad.

In Wellington, he sought consular advice which was that he should not return to Fiji. He never did.

Mr Hughes also considered the safety of his own loyal officers who would try to protect him from military arrest.

The 2006 coup was the commodore's fourth attempt.

In 2000 during the negotiations that ended the Speight hostage crisis he suggested that the military should run the country for up to 50 years but Speight - and the president - would have none of it. In 2004 and again in 2005 he planned to take over the Government but his senior officers refused to commit treason.
All were sacked.

By December 2006 it was now or never for Commodore Bainimarama. It was widely agreed amongst informed observers of the events of 2006 in Fiji, including the diplomatic community, that without Commodore Bainimarama the RFMF would be rudderless.

Had Commodore Bainimarama been arrested in New Zealand the Fiji military would have been unable and unwilling to proceed with the removal of the Qarase Government.

The then US ambassador to Fiji, Larry Dinger, summed it up when he told his masters in Washington in a cable leaked by WikiLeaks regarding the New Zealand arrest plan.

"Being passive with bullies only encourages them. An arrest abroad might be the only way to enforce a criminal charge and remove the Bainimarama thorn," he reported.

Labour's foreign affairs spokesman Phil Goff, who did not deal with the issue, could not confirm Mr Hughes' account.

However, he could understand why no arrest was made, saying such a course of action would mean a country lost its credibility as a mediator for dealing with crises.

"I scarcely think you were going to lure a person here under false pretences only to arrest him. That would be seen as an ambush and bad faith and it wouldn't have resolved the situation within Fiji. "

Russell Hunter is former editor in chief of the Fiji Sun and was deported from Fiji in 2008. Victor Lal is an Oxford-based academic researcher and is a former Fiji journalist and human rights activist. 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10786336